"Thanks…" Randall said rather quietly. The cabbie did not take much notice of him, preferring to stay in his vehicle as Randall struggled to pull his suitcase from the boot.

'Weakling'

"Strengths gone right out of me." He mumbled to himself.

"Hello brother."

He turned in slight surprise. There she was. Slightly older than he recalled, or at least in looks she was. But she still was most certainly recognizable in look and likeness to him. Her expression was rather neutral, despite the pleasure he had heard on the end of the line. The corners of her mouth upturned slightly in a strange kind of welcome, before she turned away to the cab door.

"How much do I owe you?"

"Vivienne you don't have to…"

"As a matter of fact, I think it looks like I do." She cut in. Randall closed his mouth, not really in the mood to respond. She paid the driver and he left with a whirr of a scream from the engine. After a few seconds of standing looking away from one another, it felt suddenly awkward. Vivienne was the first to break the mold.

"Come inside." She paced over and picked up his case. Randall followed a short distance behind as they walked towards the steps up towards the block of flats.

Only now had he began to notice the exterior of the building. It looked rather generic, even cheap. Blocks of grey slab with the only decorations being that of scream cables and spiked guttering. Randall glimpsed up the street. It seemed to be this was the street of grey. He noticed the list of numbers on a board outside the main door, with buttons next to an array of names as telecommunications with each flat. Each plate did not look particularly grime free.

The patters of his and her bare toes on the cold surface echoed around the space as they walked up the stairs. On floor three, she stopped their ascent and headed to a door with an assigned number and a letter: 3C. Vivenne produced her keys and unlocked the door, making way for Randall to go inside before shutting it behind him.

Before Randall was a rather decent sized living area with an adjacent kitchen. All the basic necessities were there, clean and adequately equipped. The wallpaper in the living room was cream with decorations of silver swirls with matching curtains. Paint in the kitchen although slightly flaky in patches, was a considerate complementary white. The appliances matched. Even a moderately sized television was balanced on a small set of drawers in front of a bleach white couch. Randall's eyes widened at the couch. It looked rather obscure in this living room in comparison to the other plain armchairs; almost too fashionable.

"Oh yeah." Vivienne piped up as she saw his expression. "That was a gift from a friend. I know it doesn't really match, it's just… too nice to sell on." Randall slightly 'hmphed' in agreement, before averting his eyes from it. The awkwardness returned.

Vivienne was slightly taller than him and was different in colour and build. She was thinner in ratio to her height and was very pale blue. Her tail was short and she supported her weight on only one pair of legs instead of Randall's two. Along her back were stumpy fleshy appendages similar to that of his fronds, but much shorter and smoother in appearance that they looked akin to spines from a distance. She had only one set of hands with four padded fingers. When she finally decided to look back at Randall, she did so with rather plain hazel eyes.

"It's been a while since you called." She reminded him with her reasonably pitched voice. "I've missed you. What's happened?"

Randall gulped slightly. There was so much to tell and too much embarrassment. She may still have been his sister, but this atmosphere felt strange to him. He had never felt so out of his element around her before.

"I've… been busy." He managed to say, clasping his hands together nervously. "But, that doesn't mean I haven't missed you too…" The emotions were compiling again, tears threatening to spill. It made him wonder why he was trying so hard to hold back. One dripped through and he quickly wiped it away.

"Here." She appeared by his side with a tissue and tentatively placed a hand on his shoulder. At first he did not want to take it, but then he did out of politeness.

"I am sorry Vi." He sniffed, the process of holding back the tears growing increasingly difficult by the second. "Everything's gone to shit… I just, don't know what to do. How to talk about it."

"Look, how about you take a shower, maybe then we can talk." She suggested, slowly removing her hand and smiling at him. He looked up at her and nodded solemnly.

In the kitchen, Vivenne opened some cupboard doors and obtained two mugs.

"What'd you like? Some hot chocolate? Like old times." She flashed him a grin reminiscent of childhood.

"Black coffee would be nice." Randall replied, slightly more comfortable, but still feeling rather delicate. "Where is the uh…"

"Furthest door Randy. Down the corridor. The spare room that you can stay in is opposite."

"Thanks." He replied. "For this."

"You can stay as long as you like. No thankyous are required."

A faint wisp of a smile grew across his face as she leaned on the counter glancing back at him over her shoulder until he closed the door behind him.